Comrad looks to expand with 100 per cent backing

Written by Kate McDonald on 20 May 2015.

Radiology information systems (RIS) provider Comrad Medical Systems plans to modernise its solution and introduce more innovations for its Australian and New Zealand customers following the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent of the company by New Zealand private investment firm the Savage Group.

Comrad, which was established by Andrew Scott in New Zealand in 1987 and has a large market share in private practice in NZ and a growing one in Australia, says it is the largest dedicated RIS provider in both countries.

It markets the COMRAD RIS, which caters for multi-user, multi-site and multi-company radiology practices but is also suitable for the public hospital sector.

Comrad's Melbourne-based CEO Elizabeth Delahunty said the Savage Group first invested in the company in 2005, when it bought a 50 per cent share, and the 100 per cent stake announced this week will allow the company to expand further.

“Comrad is a successful company but for all companies you go through different stages of growth and for us to continue to grow and continue to retain our leadership position in Australia and New Zealand, we need strong backing behind us,” Ms Delahunty said.

“We want to bring more innovation into our solution and we are looking at various aspects of modernisation of the solution. That project is well underway and our clients will start to see that towards the end of the year and then continuously over the next few years.

“We've also been looking at how we as a leading workflow provider can help our clients be more successful in their business of providing patient services, so we've been looking at a number of different initiatives around that and we have a solution called report accelerator which helps drive productivity and efficiency and accuracy from the modality through to the radiologist.”

Ms Delahunty estimates that Comrad has the leading share in the private hospital sectors in Australia and New Zealand and will have complete coverage of both private and public hospitals in the South Island of New Zealand later this year, following the signing of a contract to transition the remaining district health board over to Comrad's software.

She said the company intentionally focused on the private sector when it entered the Australian market “because you get decisions faster from a business point of view”. She estimates Comrad has a good proportion of the private sector market but a smaller footprint in public hospitals.

Comrad founder Andrew Scott will continue as the company's product director. “Comrad has an exciting product roadmap to share with our clients helping them to deliver excellence to their referring doctors and radiology patients,” Mr Scott said in a statement.

Catherine Savage, managing director of the Savage Group, said it was an exciting time to be investing in Comrad as it prepared for the next phase of growth.

"We take a long-term view of our investments and we like the markets Comrad is addressing,” she said.